FLAN
(Mexican Custard)
6 walnut size dabs brown sugar 1/8 teas. grated lemon
1 quart milk or orange rind (optional)
1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar (to taste) 4 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1/2 teas. ground cinnamon 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1/4 teas. salt
1 teas. vanilla extract
To caramelize custard cups - Put one dab of brown sugar in the bottom
of 6 individual custard cups, one to a cup. Place cups in hot oven. Move the
cups from side to side as sugar melts so the surface of each cup is
covered with melted brown sugar. Can be done in the microwave.
For custard - Combine the milk, sugar, cinnamon, salt, vanilla, and lemon
rind and cook over a very low flame, stirring constantly, until mixture has
reached a custard stage. Cool. Combine the lightly beaten yolks and
whites and add to custard. Mix well.
Pour the custard into the custard cups and place them in a larger flat pan
containing hot water. (The Mexicans call this Bano de Maria, or Mary's
Bath.) Bake in a slow oven (300o) for about 1 hour or until a knife
inserted in the center of a cup comes out clean. Cool. Chill several hours
before serving.
Variations:
1. Pour 6 or 7 tbsp. of warmed brandy or rum over the cold flan at serving
time and ignite when carrying to the table.
2. Coconut Flan: to basic recipe, add 1/2 cup grated canned coconut.
3. Pineapple Upside-down Flan: before brown sugar has a chance to cool
in cups, add a tbsp. of well-drained crushed pineapple and a candied cherry
to each cup. Or, use chunks of pineapple in the bottom to form a flower
With cherry as center. Bake a little longer than basic flan.